{"id":14636,"date":"2026-06-19T16:12:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T16:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=14636"},"modified":"2026-06-19T16:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T16:12:28","slug":"theres-no-soul-tony-leung-weighs-in-on-ai-in-filmmaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=14636","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;There&#8217;s no soul&#8217;: Tony Leung weighs in on AI in filmmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>One of the things Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai likes about acting is the novelty \u2014 \u201cyou will never repeat the same role\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the changes wrought on his beloved cinema by technology like AI, though, there are some things it seems he would rather keep constant.<\/p>\n<p>The 63-year-old is president of the main jury at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) this year, and on Friday sat down with AFP and The Hollywood Reporter for a wide-ranging interview that took in artificial intelligence, Chinese cinema and his future projects.<\/p>\n<p>Filmmaking has not been exempt from the disruption meted out onto the creative industries by AI\u2019s rapid development in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think AI is a double-edged sword,\u201d Leung said when asked about its impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018It saves a lot of time\u2019 means it saves a lot of money\u2026 But at the same time, a lot of people will lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The beneficiaries, he predicted, will be mainstream \u201cpopcorn movies\u201d: \u201cYou don\u2019t need to think. There\u2019s no creative. That\u2019s just calculation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Filmmakers are experimenting more with new tech tools, with SIFF this year debuting an initiative in which selected teams were given a month to create short AI-assisted films.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Asked whether he thought a movie created with AI could truly be considered art, Leung paused for several seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut there\u2019s no soul,\u201d he answered almost plaintively. He paused again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an art. No.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Leung is clear-eyed about the challenges facing cinema globally \u2014 especially the clamour for attention against streaming, gaming and shortform content pushed by algorithms on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said he \u201creally hate(s)\u201d phone viewing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel sad. When I was a kid I used to watch movies in a big cinema with a big screen and somehow it\u2019s going smaller and smaller these days,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me movies shouldn\u2019t be watched outside the cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Creativity and censorship \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Leung\u2019s collaborations with fellow Hong Konger Wong Kar-wai are emblematic of the golden age of the city\u2019s film industry in the 80s and 90s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An icon of Asian arthouse, he has also taken on Hollywood, playing a supervillain in Marvel\u2019s \u201cShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\u201d in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He received a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>SIFF is showing a retrospective of his works this year, but Leung will not be in the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m the kind of actor who doesn\u2019t like to look back to my old films,\u201d he laughed.<\/p>\n<p>There was a time when the mainland Chinese industry was still in a \u201clearning stage\u201d, including from Hong Kong, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow they have their own thinking of making movies because they are the only ones who know the local culture, the local texture,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though he professed to not know the mainland scene \u201cvery well\u201d, he pinpointed animation and small-scale productions as bright spots.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The latter was allowing for experimentation without huge financial risk, which was good for the film industry as a whole, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time, maybe they need to loosen their censorship a bit in order to have more different kinds of movie and less restriction creating-wise,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 \u2018A kind of chaos\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n<p>In Leung\u2019s latest film, \u201cSilent Friend\u201d \u2014 his first outing in a fully European production \u2014 a ginkgo tree plays a central role.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really changed my perspective towards plants,\u201d he said, his expressive face lighting up as he explained mycorrhiza, a symbiotic association between fungi and plant roots.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know how to react to the outside world. They can do a lot of stuff\u2026 So I believe plants have intelligence.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chuckling, he said making the film had been \u201ca kind of chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The crew found \u201ca harmony\u201d like \u201cdancing together\u201d, taking no special direction and improvising a lot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first watched it\u2026 I was like, wow. After editing, it\u2019s something so different,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Leung has three projects on the go at the moment \u2014 a film with Hong Kong director Johnnie To, a production set in India and a streaming series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For him, the most important factor is the director.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of story, what genre, is not important to me,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love their movies, or I love this person\u2026 That\u2019s how I pick projects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he has changed his attitude on seeking perfection in roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFilm is an act of truthfulness, not happening on the screen but in the heart and in the guts of the spectator,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you are true, that\u2019s what you should go after\u2026 not perfection.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> &#8216;There&#8217;s no soul&#8217;: Tony Leung weighs in on AI in filmmaking<br \/>\n<br \/>#soul #Tony #Leung #weighs #filmmaking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the things Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai likes about acting is the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12965,12964,12828,4803,3593],"class_list":["post-14636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-filmmaking","tag-leung","tag-soul","tag-tony","tag-weighs"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",768,512,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",640,427,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",640,427,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",768,512,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884.jpg",768,512,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6e738b66a8bb3edf1d6cfee8326660cc3a3f2884-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}